Degrees of Separation

Today's NYTimes Science section cites a Columbia study hoping to replicate Milgram's famous 1967 "Six Degrees of Separation Study" with email.

"In this global study, more than 60,000 people tried to get in touch with one of 18 people in 13 countries. The targets included a professor at Cornell University, a veterinarian in the Norwegian army and a police officer in Australia. Despite the ease of sending e-mail, the failure rate turned out much higher than what Dr. Milgram had found, possibly because many of the recipients ignored the messages as drips in a daily deluge of spam. Of the 24,613 e-mail chains that were started, a mere 384, or fewer than 2 percent, reached their targets. The successful chains arrived quickly, requiring only four steps to get there. The rest foundered when someone in the middle did not forward the e-mail. As in most social networks, it is not just a question of who knows whom, but who is willing to help."

I should note that I participated in the program and the chain I initiated, to a technician in Punjab, was successfully completed in 5 steps.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/12/science/12MAIL.html